City council has delivered another blow to Mayor Rob Ford’s underground transit ambitions — and his mayoralty in general — by rejecting a bid to wrest control of the TTC board away from politicians.

But with another key transit vote expected March 21, it’s doubtful a new transit board that will eventually include some private citizens will buy much peace on the explosive TTC file.

In the latest dramatic skirmish in Toronto’s transit wars, five Ford loyalists who recently engineered the firing of TTC chief general manager Gary Webster lost their seats on the commission. Two who did not — Councillors John Parker and Peter Milczyn — were retained, along with Maria Augimeri and chair Karen Stintz.

New faces on the commission are Scarborough councillors Raymond Cho and Glenn De Baeremaeker, and Josh Colle.

Ford, who declined to speak to reporters after the vote, had advocated for a TTC board made up solely of expert citizens who could offer expertise in helping to run the transit system.

But council adopted Stintz’s proposal to expand the commission from nine councillors to an 11-member body with seven councillors plus four citizen members.

The four citizen members, to be paid a $5,000 annual honorarium plus $450 per monthly meeting, are to be added by the end of October.

In a separate vote, council named Stintz to carry on as chair, giving her 24 votes to 19 votes cast for Milczyn.

Stintz said later she was honoured to be kept in the role, and suggested Monday’s council decision provides the stability that was desired by the provincial government, the city’s major funding partner on transit.

“Now the province knows that we have a stable commission for the next two years,” she said. “The mayor has accepted that council makes decisions, and now the commission is in line with the will of council.”

The vote also sends a message to Ford that he has to work with council to make progress, said Councillor Joe Mihevc.

“Work in consensus, you can make deals,” Mihevc said. “If you work with ‘my way or the highway,’ then you might find yourself continuing to be at the other end of the stick.”

Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, one of the five Ford loyalists who lost their TTC seats, said he was disappointed council decided on a politician-dominated board.

“All I know is that I think the public is the loser today,” Minnan-Wong said. “We actually had an agreement at the TTC, supported by the chair, the vast majority of members and by the whole executive committee that we wanted to take the politics out.

“We wanted citizens who would give their time, knowledge and expertise, and we’ve actually taken a step backward. We are going to have seven — a vast majority — of politicians.”

Councillors who supported keeping elected representatives in the majority said it was the only way to ensure public accountability for the city’s $500 million subsidy of the TTC’s $1.5 billion annual operating budget.

Two other proposals floated, both for a nine-member board, would either have eliminated politicians altogether or mixed five councillors with four citizens.

“The issue becomes: What’s a better formula? I prefer a majority of members of council to citizens,” said Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, who blamed the mayor’s team on the TTC for costing taxpayers about $500,000 to buy out Webster’s contract.

Monday’s vote was the second bruising defeat for Ford on the TTC file in a month. In February, council voted to return to an above-ground LRT plan on Finch and the east end of Eglinton, and to delegate a decision on what would happen on Sheppard Ave. E. to an outside expert panel.

That panel is expected to bring a recommendation for surface light rail to a March 21 council meeting, where it appears to have majority support.

“It’s the latest front in the battle over who really directs the course of the city. Council is reasserting itself,” said Ryerson University political scientist Myer Siemiatycki, who said Ford has shown himself to be less effective than previous mayors in persuading councillors to support his agenda.

Siemiatycki said it’s likely the province, which is providing $8.4 billion for Toronto’s transit expansion, will take Monday’s decision as another sign that council’s will is supreme.

But that won’t necessarily stop the mayor from appealing to the public for support for subway building, said Siemiatycki.

“We should expect Ford to keep on kicking and screaming against the tide,” he said. But it won’t necessarily get him re-elected.

“It’s like a platform that says ‘a Porsche in every driveway.’ It is apparent we’re being pitched a fairy tale,” Siemiatycki said.

Takes effect: Seven councillors appointed this week will immediately begin a term that will last two years, or until council appoints successors.

Citizen members: Four will be appointed by council by Oct. 30 for a four-year term, coinciding in future with council’s own term — except for this term, which is already underway. They would serve a maximum of two terms, or eight years.

Chair: Stintz appointed by council to remain in the post. Previously, commission members chose the chair.

Vice-chair: To be appointed by the commission from among four citizen members.

Remuneration: Base rate of $5,000 per year; $10,000 per year for the citizen vice-chair and a $450 per meeting per diem for citizen members.

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